NINJA BATTLE of the Bands
by Keba
Summary: Naruto starts a rock band to enter a Battle of the Bands contest. But why? And who can he convince to join his band? And most importantly, will his band win? Rated K Plus for language.
1. Naruto's Crazy Idea

Author's note: This is going to be a long author's note. In fact, it's so long that I'm going to number all of the points that I am going to make. Brace yourself.

1. I don't own Naruto. I don't own rights to any of the bands or songs that I will make reference to, either.

2. I don't know if the bands and songs I'm going to make reference to even exist in the Naruto world, but I'm going to say that they do (hey, it's my story). I'm pretty sure that rock music exists in the Naruto world because I saw this picture in a book of official Naruto drawings where Naruto was singing while the rest of Team Seven were playing instruments (that's what inspired this story).

3. I tried to make this story in continuity with the anime. It takes place between episodes 101 and 102.

4. Since this story is written in English, I will not randomly insert Japanese words into it. However, I will make exceptions with the suffixes "-chan", "-kun", "-san", et cetera.

5. Due to the fact that I can't keep the attack names straight in Japanese and I don't know them all in English, no one will be using any kind of jutsu in this story. If you're looking for action, you've come to the wrong place.

6. The characters' names will be as they are in the original anime, meaning that their family names will come first. Why they changed Uzumaki Naruto to Naruto Uzumaki but left Rock Lee's name the same in the dub is beyond me.

7. Naruto will not say "believe it!"

That has to be the longest author's note I ever wrote. I'm just glad that you're still reading this. Anyway, on with the show!

* * *

NINJA BATTLE (of the Bands)

Chapter 1: Naruto's Crazy Idea

Missions had been slow for Team Seven ever since Kakashi went on a high-ranking mission of his own. Mostly, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura spent their time doing trivial missions. After these missions, Naruto would usually be tired and grumpy, but after the team's most recent mission of garden-weeding, Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to find Naruto grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you so happy about?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed tone.

"I was thinking…" Naruto said slowly.

Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that this couldn't be good.

Naruto continued, "Why don't we start a rock band?"

"What?" Sakura said while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you play guitar, right Sakura-chan?" said Naruto.

"I do… sort of," said Sakura.

"And Sasuke, you play bass, right?" Naruto continued.

"I haven't touched my bass guitar in a long time," replied Sasuke.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," said Naruto, "So you guys both can play instruments and I'll be the lead singer. We've got a band!"

"But who will play drums?" asked Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei will!" declared Naruto, "He's got 'drummer' written all over him!"

"He's on a mission," Sasuke pointed out.

"Aw man," whined Naruto, "WE GOTTA FIND A DRUMMER!"

"What's with this whole band thing, anyway?" asked Sakura, "I didn't even know you liked rock music, Naruto."

"Well, I saw this flyer for a battle of the bands contest," explained Naruto, "The winner gets this cool prize."

"Which is…" Sakura said, almost not wanting to know.

"FIVE FREE ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT RAMEN PASSES TO ICHIRAKU!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sakura shook her head, "How did I not expect that?"

"Please, help me out here! Please!" Naruto begged, "I really want those free ramen passes."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto who had gotten on his knees to beg.

Sasuke sighed, "Fine."

"And how about you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well, I guess I'll join, since Sasuke-kun agreed…" Sakura said as she looked down at the ground.

"YES!" Naruto jumped up in the air and cheered, "Now all we need is a drummer. OK, I'm going to ask the first person we come across to be our drummer."

Naruto began to walk with a spring in his step while Sasuke and Sakura reluctantly followed behind. They had only searched for a little while when they found Chouji leaning against a fence while eating a bag of chips, as he was known to do.

"Chouji!" Naruto called out to the heavyset boy, "I'm starting a rock band for this battle of the bands contest! Want to be the drummer?"

"Um, I can't play drums," said Chouji.

"The prize in five free all-you-can-eat ramen passes," Naruto said smiling widely.

Chouji began to think the matter over. He didn't know the first thing about playing drums, but on the other hand, he couldn't resist ramen. Of course, he could always learn to play the drums. How hard could it be?

"Alright," Chouji said, "I'll do it!"

"Yes!" Naruto shouted while raising his fists in the air, "We have a band!"

Naruto began to do a victory dance when he was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Hinata peeped out from behind a nearby telephone pole and timidly made her way over to Naruto and his newly formed band.

"I-I couldn't help but overhear that you were starting a band," Hinata said softly, "C-can I please join? I can play the keyboard."

Naruto grinned at the pale-eyed girl, making her blush.

"Sure," he said, "Why not?"

A small smile formed on Hinata's face. Although she didn't express it completely, Hinata was overjoyed that Naruto had accepted her into his band.

"Alright, everyone," Naruto announced, "Let's have our first rehearsal at my place tomorrow."

As the members of the new band arranged an exact time to meet, Naruto could feel happiness and excitement swelling inside of him. He was going to enter that contest, and he could feel that he was going to win.

* * *

So readers, what do you think? Keep in mind that this is only the first chapter. It's going to get better. Trust me. 


	2. Bad Band Names

Author's note: I don't own Naruto. I don't own the rights to any of the bands or songs that I make reference to. This includes the song that I parodied to make the title of this chapter.

* * *

NINJA BATTLE (of the Bands)

Chapter 2: You Give Band Names a Bad Name

The members of the new band held their first meeting in Naruto's bedroom. Hinata had finished setting up her keyboard and was ready to play. Chouji sat behind the drum set that the band had pitched in to rent for him. He wasn't ready to play, but he was ready to fake it. Sasuke and Sakura were tuning their instruments. Naruto stood by his bed, microphone in hand. There was only one thing missing.

"Don't we need a name for this band?" Sakura asked.

"I've got that all figured out," Naruto said smoothly, "We're calling it…"

He paused dramatically before continuing.

"…UZUMAKI!" Naruto shouted as he pumped his fist in the air.

"There is no way in hell that I'm playing in a band named after you, Naruto," Sasuke groaned.

"Hey, it's MY band," Naruto defended himself, "Besides, it worked for Van Halen, didn't it?"

"That's because there were two guys in Van Halen named Van Halen," said Sakura, "Also, neither one of them was the lead singer."

"And wasn't their lead singer replaced?" Sasuke smirked.

"OK, Sasuke, if you're so smart, why don't you come up with a name?" challenged Naruto.

"We might as well not call this band anything. Even that would be better than Uzumaki," Sasuke said rolling his eyes.

"That's just a fancy way of saying that you don't have any ideas," Naruto shot back.

"Hey, Chouji," Sakura said desperately trying to calm things down before an argument broke out, "do you have any ideas for a band name?"

"No," said Chouji as he puttered with his drumsticks.

"Just say the first thing that comes to your mind," encouraged Sakura.

"Um… cake," said Chouji.

"There already is a band called Cake," Sakura said as her eyebrow twitched slightly, "Any other thoughts?"

"Potato chips?" Chouji suggested.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto stared at each other while wondering if the only thing that Chouji thought of was food.

"I-I'd like to make a suggestion," Hinata timidly squeaked, "W-what do you think of the name Golden Sunrise?"

Sakura thought it over for a moment before saying, "I like that name."

"I like it too," said Chouji.

"It's better than anything Naruto could come up with," Sasuke said almost indifferently.

Naruto glared at Sasuke and said, "We're taking a vote. Whoever wants to have the band's name be Uzumaki, raise your hand."

Naruto raised his hand. Sasuke shook his head slowly. Sakura and Chouji just stared at Naruto. Hinata looked down and pressed her fingertips together.

"Now," Naruto continued, "anyone who wants the band's name to be Golden Sunrise, raise your hand."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Chouji raised their hands high. Hinata raised her hand halfway.

"Fine," Naruto sulked, "Be that way. But I get to pick the song we'll be playing!"

* * *

As a closing note I would like to say thanks for the love. I've gotten so many hits in such a short time and someone even put me on their story alerts. That's never happened to me before. And please leave a review. If you have something to say, I'd like to hear it. I accept suggestions as to what I can improve upon, but don't flame me. And if you liked it, don't be shy and let me know.

Also, for the record, I'm not a fan of Van Halen or Cake. I don't have anything against them, though. I'm just not as into them as I am into other bands.


	3. A Rehersal Gone Wrong

Author's note: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any of the bands or songs that I make reference to in this chapter (but I wish I did).

* * *

NINJA BATTLE (of the Bands)

Chapter 3: A Rehearsal Gone Wrong

"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!" shouted Naruto.

Sakura played the opening chords on her guitar. Chouji joined in, and so did Sasuke. Hinata added a few notes here and there. Naruto took in a deep breath, preparing to sing.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Naruto screamed into the microphone as loudly as he could.

The other band members instantly stopped playing to cover their ears.

"Help! I'm going deaf!" Chouji panicked.

"Knock it off, Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto stopped screaming.

"What the hell was that all about?" Sasuke asked, very annoyed.

"I always wanted to do that," Naruto grinned.

"Let's just take it from the top, again," sighed Sakura.

"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!"

The band started playing the intro to their song again. Naruto opened his mouth and took in another deep breath. The other band members prayed that he wouldn't start wildly screaming. Naruto began to sing.

"WALK THIS WAAAAAAAAAAY! WALK THIS WAAAAAAAAAAY!" he screeched.

Once again, the rest of the band stopped playing and covered their ears.

"Naruto, we're playing 'When I Come Around' by Green Day, as in not Aerosmith," Sakura said, more than a little ticked off.

"Oh, sorry," said Naruto as he scratched the back of his head, "Let's start over."

Sakura started playing. Sasuke, Chouji, and Hinata joined in. Naruto opened his mouth and paused for a moment. He stood there almost frozen as the band played on.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" growled Sasuke, "Sing!"

"I forgot the words, OK?" Naruto snapped back.

By this time, Sakura had lost it.

"Damn it, Naruto," she shouted, "This was your stupid idea, you picked the stupid song, and now you don't even know the words!"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said in a panicked tone, "I'll learn the words. I swear I will!"

Sasuke sighed and said, "I quit."

The others stared at him in shock.

"You heard me right. I quit," Sasuke repeated, "I'm not wasting my time here anymore. I could be doing something much more productive. I'm leaving."

With that, he packed up his bass guitar and quickly made his exit.

"Sasuke-kun, wait!" Sakura said as she started to follow him.

It was too late. Sasuke was long gone.

"Oh, man!" Naruto whined, "Now what'll we do?"

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun," said Hinata who had been quiet until this point, "We'll find someone else who can play bass."

Naruto thought for a moment. Soon a wide smile came to his lips.

"I think I know who might make a good replacement," Naruto said while grinning and rubbing his hands together.

* * *

Finally, I have revealed some of the bands I like! Yeah, I'm an Aerosmith fan, and Green Day are cool, too. I was thinking that as soon as I finish this story, I'll post up a whole list of the bands that I like in my profile.

Sorry about the short chapter, everyone. The next one will probably be longer since I will be involving some of the other rookies. So, as you wait for the next chapter, please leave a review. I'd really appreciate it.


	4. Bring In the Replacement!

Author's note: You may already know this, but I do not own the rights Naruto or any of the bands or songs that I make reference to.

Warning: Beware of humor dealing with bodily functions. There's not much, but I just thought I'd warn you, anyway.

* * *

NINJA BATTLE (of the Bands)

Chapter 4: Bring In the Replacement!

"Shikamaru, I'm begging you, be our bassist!" Naruto pleaded to his first candidate for a replacement bassist.

"Th-the battle of the bands contest is coming up soon," Hinata added, "a-and we would all appreciate it if you could help us."

"Sorry, you guys," Shikamaru said in his usual lazy tone, "I can't."

"But, you're a genius," Sakura said, trying to sound persuasive, "We thought that if anyone could be our new bassist, it would be you."

"Thanks for the compliment," said Shikamaru, unmoved, "but I'm no good in the arts. I don't know the first thing about playing an instrument, and it would be too troublesome to learn."

"Shikamaru, I don't know how to play an instrument, either, but that didn't stop me!" Chouji smiled, "If you join our band, I'll be your best friend!"

Shikamaru returned Chouji's smile with half of one, "Chouji, you already are my best friend. I really wish I could help you, but as I said, I'm no musician."

"But we need the prize!" Naruto said desperately.

"Which is what?" Shikamaru asked even though he didn't really care.

"FREE RAMEN AT ICHIRAKU!" Chouji answered passionately.

"Sounds tempting," said Shikamaru while rubbing the back of his neck, "but no, I can't help you guys."

Giving up, the quartet slowly walked away from Shikamaru, while looking very dejected.

* * *

"Who are we going to ask, now?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Does anyone know if Ino plays bass?" asked Chouji.

"You should know that, Chouji," Naruto responded, "She's YOUR teammate, after all."

"Well, I never really asked her what kind of music she likes," Chouji shrugged.

"Why don't you ask her now?" suggested Naruto.

"Well, um…" Chouji looked down and fiddled with his jacket.

"Don't tell me she's got a beef with you," Naruto groaned and clutched his forehead with one hand.

"Well, actually, yes," admitted Chouji, "Literally."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naruto.

"It was about a week ago," Chouji began to recount the incident, "Azuma-sensei took me, Ino, and Shikamaru out to lunch after our last mission. We ordered beef teriyaki. It was the most delicious beef teriyaki I ever had! It was so succulent, so juicy, so—"

"We get the point," Naruto said while rolling his eyes.

Chouji wiped a small stream of drool from the corner of his mouth and continued, "Well, we were down to the last piece of beef, and I quickly snatched it. Ino yelled at me saying that she wanted that piece and I felt sad and guilty. She hasn't spoken to me since."

Naruto and Sakura gave Chouji a look.

"What?" said Chouji, defensively.

"I don't think she would have held a grudge against you for that long just for a piece of beef," Sakura pointed out.

"Doesn't she hold a grudge against you for liking Sasuke, too?" Chouji asked, instantly regretting it.

"That's none of your business!" Sakura yelled at Chouji.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Chouji said nervously.

"M-maybe we shouldn't ask Ino to be in our band," Hinata said quietly.

"Don't worry," announced Naruto, "I'll ask her!"

Naruto marched off in search of Ino, not knowing the consequences that could arise if she accepted.

* * *

Naruto found Ino working in her parents' flower shop. She was just about to hand a bouquet of roses to a customer when Naruto barged in and shouted, "INO, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"Just a minute," Ino said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.

After the customer paid for the flowers and left, Ino checked to see if there were any other customers in the store. Seeing that there were none, she turned to Naruto.

"What is your problem!" Ino yelled at Naruto, "Couldn't you see I was in the middle of a transaction?"

"Sorry, but this is important!" Naruto explained.

After Naruto told Ino his whole story, Ino raised an eyebrow and said, "So you're doing this for a lousy bowl of ramen?"

"Not just any bowl of ramen," grinned Naruto, "It's Ichiraku ramen!"

"Whatever," said Ino as she crossed her arms, "I'm not doing it. I don't play bass and I don't even like rock."

With that, Ino walked off and began to tend to some daisies. Naruto pouted and left the shop.

* * *

"Ino said she wouldn't do it," Naruto explained to the group after he rejoined them.

"That pig," muttered Sakura.

"Who do we ask now?" Chouji wondered aloud.

"W-we could ask Shino-kun," suggested Hinata.

Naruto's face lit up.

"Yeah, Shino's smart," he said smiling, "He could definitely help us."

* * *

The quartet found Shino at the training grounds practicing a jutsu with his bugs.

"Hey, Shino!" Naruto said loudly.

Shino slowly turned his head in Naruto's direction. The insects that were swarming around him quickly flew back up the sleeves of his coat.

"Shino, we need your help," Naruto said as he and the rest of the band ran over to the bug user.

"I'm listening," Shino said almost emotionlessly.

The four band members explained to Shino about the battle of the bands contest. After the explanation, Shino asked the group the exact date and time of the contest. When the group told him, Shino shook his head.

"I have a conflict at that time," was all Shino said.

"Yeah, but I don't," said a voice coming from a nearby tree.

The band members and Shino looked in the direction of the voice. There stood Kiba on a tree branch. He leaped out of the tree, followed by his dog, Akamaru.

"You play bass?" Naruto said in surprise.

"Of course I do!" Kiba said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Naruto didn't particularly like the idea of working with Kiba, but he didn't have many other options, so he accepted Kiba's offer.

* * *

Back in Naruto's bedroom, the band was getting ready to play. Kiba was the first to finish setting up his instrument.

"Yahoo! Let's kick some ass!" he shouted wildly.

Akamaru yipped in agreement, picked up a tambourine in his mouth and began to shake it.

"So, your dog's going to join us, too?" Chouji asked Kiba.

"Sure, why not?" Kiba replied as he knelt down to pet his dog, "Akamaru has a good sense of rhythm."

"Yeah, but is he housetrained?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Uh, yeah!" Kiba said, almost offended.

"Well, let's play, then," said Sakura.

"What are we playing?" asked Kiba.

"The Green Day song, 'When I Come Around'," answered Chouji.

"Yeah, Green Day is OK," said Kiba, "But you know who's cooler? Linkin Park! We should play one of their songs!"

"B-but Kiba-kun, we already decided—" began Hinata.

Kiba cut Hinata off by loudly bursting into song.

"I'M BREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAKING THE HAAAAAAAAAABIT—"

"You're breaking my eardrums!" Sakura shouted back.

At that moment, Akamaru began to sniff around. Mistaking Naruto's microphone stand for a tree, he promptly lifted his leg. Naruto glanced over to where Akamaru was, and his eyes widened in shock.

"STOP!" Naruto yelled at the little dog, "BAD DOG!"

By this time Akamaru had finished his business and began barking in response to Naruto's yelling. Naruto lunged at the dog. Kiba blocked Naruto from getting at Akamaru.

"I thought you said he was housetrained!" Naruto growled at Kiba.

"He is!" Kiba defended his dog, "He's just in an unfamiliar setting and getting used to his surroundings."

"GET OUT!" Naruto screamed, "BOTH OF YOU!"

Naruto angrily shoved Kiba, Akamaru, and Kiba's bass out the door.

"Now what are we going to do?" Chouji asked in despair.

"We'll just get another bassist," said Naruto as he cleaned up the mess Akamaru had made, "Fuzzy Brows could do it. All we have to do is tell him that bass playing is youthful."

"Naruto," Sakura said flatly, "Lee-san is in the hospital, remember?"

"Oh yeah," said Naruto, "I forgot."

"Hinata," Sakura addressed the shy girl, "Does your cousin play bass?"

"Y-yes," Hinata replied, "But Neji-nii-san is on a mission with Tenten-san."

"So neither of them could do it," Chouji said disappointedly.

"I know!" Naruto said, struck by inspiration, "I could make a shadow clone be our bassist!"

"Yeah, but could your shadow clone play bass?" asked Sakura.

Naruto tapped his chin and thought for a few seconds.

"No, I guess not," said Naruto, "Since I can't play any instruments, I guess my shadow clone couldn't either."

"Let's face it," said Chouji, "We're screwed."

"Yes, we are," sighed Naruto, "But we've already registered for the contest. We'll have to do it without a bassist."

* * *

Sorry it took me a while to update since this chapter was about twice as long as my others. I have one more chapter left, so stay tuned for that.

Also, I'd like to say thank you to my loyal readers. It made my day when I found out I was on someone's Favorite Authors list.

Finally, I would like to say that I stuck in a reference to Linkin Park because I think that band is awesome. But that's just my opinion.


	5. It's Showtime!

Author's note: I don't own Naruto. I don't own the real-life bands and songs that I make reference to in this chapter. The made-up bands in this chapter were made up by me. Actually the characters of Naruto (who I don't own) made up the names of their bands. But I made them make them up. Ah, let's get on with the final chapter before I confuse us all.

* * *

NINJA BATTLE (of the Bands)

Chapter 5: It's Showtime!

Backstage, on the night of the contest, Naruto was listening to the other bands perform and dreaming of ramen. He wasn't the least bit nervous. In fact, he was excited. He had even dressed up for the occasion. Instead of wearing his here-I-am-come-and-kill-me orange jacket, he wore a black t-shirt with a red exclamation point on it and black jeans and wristbands to match. To complete the look, he drew a tattoo on his left arm with a marker.

"Naruto, you know this is suicide, right?" Sakura said, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course it's not suicide, Sakura-chan," Naruto smiled sincerely, "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know," replied Sakura, "Maybe it's because we don't have a bassist."

"We'll be fine," Naruto said, casting Sakura's comment aside, "Besides, these other bands aren't all that great."

"Oh, really," a familiar voice said sarcastically.

Naruto quickly turned his head. There, he saw Sasuke who was clad head to toe in leather. Behind Sasuke stood two taller boys who looked as though they came right out of 1983.

"Sasuke," Naruto said coldly, "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I enter a band into the contest, too?" Sasuke asked just as coldly.

"But why are you doing this?" Naruto asked forcefully.

"There are several reasons," Sasuke began, "First, as you know, missions have been scarce and it's hard to spend your free time training when there's no one around who can match your skill. Second, I didn't want my talents as a bass player to go to waste. And finally, I just wanted to see the look on your face when you lose. Now, if you'll excuse me, my band is up next."

As if on cue, the band that had been playing finished their song and left the stage. A young announcer with spiky hair and multiple piercings walked onto the stage and picked up the microphone from its stand.

"Up next is a band of hard rockers called Uchiha!" the announcer shouted into the microphone.

The crowd cheered and screamed as Sasuke and his two bandmates took the stage. They burst right into a cover of the H.I.M. song "Rip out the Wings of a Butterfly". As Sasuke sang and played his bass, a group of fan girls squealed. Naruto, Sakura, Chouji, and Hinata could only stare at the sight.

_"That dumbass even stole my band name idea!"_ Naruto thought in anger.

_"Why, Sasuke-kun, why?"_ thought Sakura as she started to quiver.

_"My ramen! My ramen!"_ Chouji cried mentally.

_"The poor butterfly,"_ Hinata thought as she listened to the song's lyrics.

Sasuke and his band finished the song and exited the stage to the sound of cheers and applause. The spiky haired announcer came on again.

"Now, we have a new band up," he announced, "Please welcome Golden Sunrise!"

Naruto clenched his fists and said, "Let's go."

Chouji gulped. The quartet unceremoniously walked onto the stage and took their places.

Sakura played the opening guitar part, but messed it up when she played the wrong chord. Chouji dropped a drumstick and bent over to pick it up, missing his cue. He was able to retrieve the stick and started playing. Naruto began to sing slightly off-key and midway through the first verse, he forgot the words. He adlibbed until he finally remembered the right words. Meanwhile, Chouji was having trouble keeping the beat correctly. Hinata, who was the most talented member of the band, was so paralyzed with stage fright that she couldn't play a note. The lack of bass guitar in the song was not helping in the least. Things really started going downhill when Sakura broke her D-string during the guitar solo.

When the band finally finished the song, the audience was silent. No cheers. No applause. Nothing. The band members quietly and solemnly left the stage.

"I admit it," Naruto mumbled, "We sucked."

The announcer walked back onto the stage to introduce the next act.

"Our final act isn't a band at all, but a one-man act," he shouted into his microphone, "Allow me to introduce Aburame Shino!"

Naruto, Sakura, Chouji, and Hinata were all stunned.

"Shino-kun?" Hinata said in disbelief.

Sure enough, Shino walked onstage with an acoustic guitar. He strummed his guitar slowly. He then went on to sing a song that he wrote himself. It was a ballad of life as a ninja played in a style similar to Bruce Springsteen's. The oddest thing was that Shino had a very good voice.

When Shino finished his song, the audience applauded him. Shino respectfully bowed, and exited the stage. The announcer came back onstage.

"OK," he said, "Now it's time for you, the audience, to vote on which band you thought was best. Just write the name of your favorite band on your voting ticket and place it in the bucket in front of the stage. Once the votes are tallied up, I'll let you know who the champion of the battle of the bands is!"

The audience members quickly did as they were told.

Backstage, Naruto was sulking. He looked up to see Sasuke smirking at him. Naruto looked down again. He knew his chances of winning were slim to none. He just hoped that at least Sasuke wouldn't win.

"The votes are in!" shouted the announcer, "And the winner is…"

The announcer paused and opened the piece of paper containing the winner's name. Naruto looked up. Sakura bit her lip. Hinata crossed her fingers. Chouji began to sweat. Sasuke crossed his arms and nodded. His two band mates chuckled softly.

"I can't believe it!" the announcer said as his eyes widened, "The winner of the battle of the bands is Aburame Shino!"

All of the other bands were stunned in disbelief.

"Who would have known?" Chouji said dumbfounded.

Shino walked back onstage, and the announcer gave him the passes for free ramen. Once again, Shino bowed respectfully and the audience clapped and cheered.

"Thank you all for coming," said the announcer, "Good night!"

Both Shino and the announcer left the stage.

* * *

After the audience left, Naruto, Sakura, Chouji, and Hinata packed up their things to go home. Hinata was the first to finish, and started to leave. She was sad, not because the band had lost, but because Naruto was down. As she was about to leave the backstage area, Shino stopped her. 

"Hinata," he said.

"Y-yes, Shino-kun?"

"I would like you and your band to have these free ramen passes," he said as he handed Hinata four of the five passes.

Hearing Shino say that he was giving away the passes, Naruto sprung up and ran over to Shino. Sakura and Chouji followed him.

"Shino, you're the best!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and down, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Chouji motioned Shino to come over to give him a hug. Shino declined.

"Thanks, Shino," said Sakura, "But may I ask why you're doing this?"

"I guess I do owe you an explanation," Shino began, "Do you remember when you asked me to join your band and I said that I had plans? My plans were to enter this contest, myself. I had entered before you asked me to join your band. I would have explained this to you earlier, but Kiba cut me off before I could.

"I never entered this contest because I wanted to win the prize. I entered because I wished to express myself. As a serious ninja, I don't get to do things like this very often. I honestly did not think that I would win. The fact that I won a prize really doesn't matter to me. That's why I'm giving you these four passes. I'm giving the fifth pass to my father, since I'm not very fond of ramen."

Naruto stared at the ramen passes in Hinata's hands as if they were the most beautiful things he had ever set his eyes on.

"Just looking at those passes is making me hungry. Let's go to Ichiraku and use them!" Naruto declared.

"Already?" asked Sakura, "We just got them!"

"Well," Naruto grinned, "I don't want to be a starving artist."

* * *

And that's a wrap! I apologize for the long wait. I know I didn't update for a month or so, but it was because I had a different ending that I didn't think was very satisfying. In that ending, Shino gave the band all five ramen passes and the band fought over who would get the fifth pass. It took me a while to think up a better ending. Sorry, but my brain just wouldn't work any faster. 

Now, let me explain why I included the artists that I did in this chapter. I'm not a big fan of H.I.M. but I have a friend who is, so I stuck them in as a tribute to her. As for Bruce Springsteen, you have to appreciate him. Well, at least I do. Maybe you don't. Or maybe you have no clue who he is.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and reading this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review!


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